General Layout of LHR
The LHR site is fairly compact with Terminals 2, 3, and 5 sited between the two runways, and Terminal 4 sited in the south east corner. Generally all IB and most BA flights arrive and depart from T5. There are a few exceptions to that and currently the following BA flights arrive and depart from T3:
Accra, Barcelona, Bilbao (moves to LGW from 31 March 2019), Billund (moving T5 to T3 from 28 October 2019), Budapest, Cape Town, Chania (moving to T5 from 31 March 2019), Denver, Gibraltar, Hannover (moving T5 to T3 from 28 October 2019), Helsinki, Las Vegas, Lisbon, Ljubljana (moving T5 to T3 from May 2020), (Luxembourg (moving to T5 from 28 October 2019), Lyon (moving to T5 from 28 October 2019), Marseille, Miami*, Nairobi, Palermo (moving T3 to T5 from May 2020), Phoenix (moving T3 to T5 from 27 October 2019), Pisa (moving T5 to T3 from 31 March 2019), Prague, Pula, San Diego (moving T5 to T3 from 27 October 2019), Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw (moving to T5 from 28 October 2018), and Zagreb (moving T5 to T3 from 28 October 2019)
* MIA - from 01 April 2020 to 31 May 2020 1 x daily flight (BA211) will operate from T5, all other MIA flights (BA 207 & 209) will continue to operate from T3
In terms of other
oneworld and IAG airlines, the following terminals are used:
T2 - Aer Lingus (not
oneworld but part of IAG)
T3 - American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, LATAM, Royal Jordanian, SriLankan Airlines, and Veuling (not
oneworld but part of IAG)
T4 - Malaysia Airlines, and Qatar Airways
Image courtesy of your.heathrow.com
Also see this thread focused on BA T3 routes
List of BA flights from T3
The only way to connect when airside between the four terminals is to use the airside buses and this is discussed in more detail in the posts below.
General Layout of T5
T5 actually comprises three buildings, T5A the main building, and T5B and T5C which are two satellite buildings. All three building are linked by a rapid train transit system (TTS) and also underground walkways. As airside departing and arriving passenger do not mix at T5 there are two walkways, one for the departing stream of passengers, and the other for the arriving stream of passengers.
The below diagram shows the general layout of T5.
The position of the Flight Connections Centre in T5, as well as the Dublin and domestic arrivals areas in T5A, are shown. More detailed diagram of these areas can be found in the below posts.
Underground Walkways
As noted above, there are two underground walkways linking T5A/B/C - one walkway for departing passengers and the other for arriving passengers. I won’t cover the underground walkways between T5A/B/C in any details here as there is already an excellent guide done by
corporate-wage-slave with links below:
T5 Passageways Guide for Departing Passengers
T5 Passageways Guide for Arriving Passengers
If you are departing from T5B or T5C you can use the underground walkway as an alternative to the TTS to get from T5A to the B or C buildings. If you are arriving in to the B or C buildings you can use the underground walkway as an alternative to using the TTS to get to T5A.
Even if your flight is departing from T5A, as long as you have enough time you can even go over to B or C and return to T5A. You can use the TTS or walkway to go to T5B or C, and then use the walkway to get back to the T5A departures area –
do not use the TTS for the return. One reason to do this is that you can use the quieter BA Galleries Club lounge in T5B. Some more information on how to return from T5B or C to T5A is in the thread linked to below.
LHR: Getting From T5B/T5C Airside Departures to T5A Airside Departures
Airside to Landside
One question which does crop up is if you are in the airside departures area of T5 and want to get back landside how do you do that. This is especially relevant for smokers as there are no airside smoking areas in T5. As departing and arriving passengers mix you can’t simply walk out. The two ways to “land yourself” are:
- You can speak to a BA member of staff, there is an escorted route which takes place on the hour every hour, and if you miss it you will have to wait up to an hour for the next one. For the escorted service, just go to the Customer Service desk in T5A about 15 minutes to the hour.
- You can take the TTS to T5C, stay on the transit, and then when you come back to T5A you will be in the arrivals stream and arrive at the FCC. You will have to cross the UK border to go landside just like any arriving passenger, so you will need a passport to use this option.
Bear in mind if you use option 2, and want to go back airside later using the same boarding pass you will have to get a BA member of staff to first unregister you as ‘Ready to Fly’. When you original went to go airside at T5 using your boarding pass you would have been marked as ‘Ready to Fly’ and you need to be unregistered so you can re-enter T5 airside - without unregistering your boarding pass will not work when you try your boarding pass at the landside gates just before security.
Also if you use option 2 and your intention is not to take your flight anymore you should as a courtesy tell a BA member of staff to offload you so they don’t spend any time trying to find you when you don’t appear at the gate during boarding.